FA: Proof ASEs, Barber Halves and a Morgan Dollar Vam Variety

A few more coins put up tonight. The link I posted is to a 1921-D
Morgan Dollar and I believe it is a VAM variety but I'm not sure which
one. Any vam'rs out there that can take a look and tell me which one,
I'd appreciate it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=8322368059

Thanks,
Cliff/ebay N5GWU

"Cliff" wrote in message
...
A few more coins put up tonight. The link I posted is to a 1921-D
Morgan Dollar and I believe it is a VAM variety but I'm not sure which
one. Any vam'rs out there that can take a look and tell me which one,
I'd appreciate it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=8322368059

Thanks,
Cliff/ebay N5GWU

Cliff, it is hard to tell without the coin in hand. It looks like it may be
VAM 4. You can check for a small circular raised dot on the field above the
left olive leaf cluster with a smaller dot just to the left of it. There
will also be small dots at the junction of the eagle's right wing and neck,
on the lower middle of the eagle's right wing, in the middle of the eagle's
sixth tail feather, and to the left of the arrow feather ends on the field
(from VAM book, R = 3).

Your Morgan looks like it may have some of the dots -- particularly the
largest of them in the field above the olive branch, though many of the
smaller dots are not discernable in your image.

All Morgans will be of a VAM type, though most VAMs won't bring a premium.
The only sought-after 1921-D VAM I am aware of is the TRU_T variety (VAM
1A -- one of the Top 100). This VAM has a faded S resulting from a filled
die.

Good luck with your auction!

Anita

On Thu, 28 Jul 2005 03:17:24 GMT, "Anita" wrote:


"Cliff" wrote in message
.. .
A few more coins put up tonight. The link I posted is to a 1921-D
Morgan Dollar and I believe it is a VAM variety but I'm not sure which
one. Any vam'rs out there that can take a look and tell me which one,
I'd appreciate it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=8322368059

Thanks,
Cliff/ebay N5GWU

Cliff, it is hard to tell without the coin in hand. It looks like it may be
VAM 4. You can check for a small circular raised dot on the field above the
left olive leaf cluster with a smaller dot just to the left of it. There
will also be small dots at the junction of the eagle's right wing and neck,
on the lower middle of the eagle's right wing, in the middle of the eagle's
sixth tail feather, and to the left of the arrow feather ends on the field
(from VAM book, R = 3).

Your Morgan looks like it may have some of the dots -- particularly the
largest of them in the field above the olive branch, though many of the
smaller dots are not discernable in your image.

All Morgans will be of a VAM type, though most VAMs won't bring a premium.
The only sought-after 1921-D VAM I am aware of is the TRU_T variety (VAM
1A -- one of the Top 100). This VAM has a faded S resulting from a filled
die.

Good luck with your auction!

Anita

Thanks Anita. I realize it's probably not a rare vam but in all the
21-D's I've owned, this one has the most startling die breaks and is a
neat coin. I'm hoping it'll go somewhere in the $15 range so I wasn't
looking for the trip around the world
Thanks again,
Cliff

"Cliff" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 28 Jul 2005 03:17:24 GMT, "Anita" wrote:
Thanks Anita. I realize it's probably not a rare vam but in all the
21-D's I've owned, this one has the most startling die breaks and is a
neat coin. I'm hoping it'll go somewhere in the $15 range so I wasn't
looking for the trip around the world
Thanks again,
Cliff

The 1921 Morgans are definitely boggling. I've tried to key a few of them
out, but usually end up with "inconclusive." I read that there are people
who specialize in studying the die cracks and dots on the coins of the year.
I wonder how many VAMs and sub-VAMs will ultimately arise. I don't have any
of the VAM book supplements yet. They would probably be a good investment,
but I'm still wrestling with the big book. Some mint years are easy. Others
are tedious. 1921 is about the worst.

It is hard to judge doubling and dots from a 2-D photo. I ran into a seller
on eBay the other day who was selling raw VAMs. The coins were circulated
and unremarkable, but his photographs were breath-taking 3-D -- some of the
best pictures I've seen. Maybe I'll buy some of his coins if I can locate
his ID and see if he will send me a diagram of his camera/lighting setup. It
would be worth the price of the coins.

Anita